Heart's Desire
by BeWhoYouAre99
Summary: Katniss and Peeta's daughter is getting married to Gale's son and Katniss is worrying herself by over-thinking things. "You're married to me now. And Gale has Madge. Any teenage feelings that either of you had for each other have finished. It was just a crush." Gadge & Everlark. One-shot.


**Summary:** Katniss and Peeta's daughter is getting married to Gale's son and Katniss is worrying herself by over-thinking things. "You're married to me now. And Gale has Madge. Any teenage feelings that either of you had for each other have finished. It was just a crush, Katniss." Gadge & Everlark. One-shot.

**Disclaimer: **Nope, it's not mine.

**Setting**: There are a few differences here, that were necessary for the plot of this. They are intentional and yes, I've read the books so I know what I'm doing by writing this. Prim isn't dead, Gale and Madge are together & most importantly, Katniss got preggo in the 1st year of her marriage. That's all. Oh and Gale is married to Madge.

**~Katniss~**

My daughter was engaged. And guess who her husband-to-be was? My best childhood friend slash ex-crush: Gale's son.

It was strange to put that into sentence. I mean, really, did it have to be my Ariana? Did it have to be Daren?

I guess it did. The world has a strange way of doing things.

"Katniss", said Peeta, waving his hand in front of my face. "Are you alright? You seem a little out of it."

A little out of it? I repeated to myself. He didn't know what he was taking about. I wasn't one of those mothers who go hysterical at the mere thought of their baby girl growing up and getting married. Honestly I didn't have anything against her becoming someone's wife.

It's just that I didn't like her choice of a husband.

Okay, that was a big fat lie. Daren was a wonderful young man and I really liked him. What I didn't like was the fact that the couple were too young to get married. Marriage was a big commitment. It was supposed to be life-long and I didn't know if my daughter and her fiancé were prepared for it.

Daren was nineteen while Ariana, eighteen. Wasn't that young? They were teenagers, for crying out loud.

"Katniss!" my husband repeated a loudly.

"What?" I said, dazedly.

"You've been sitting out here for the last two hours and staring at a rock."

"Oh", I said, not realising how late it was. The sky was dark and I hadn't even noticed.

"Is that all you're going to say?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I was thinking..."

"I guessed as much. What were you think about?"

I sighed. "Ariana and Daren."

He plopped down on the ground next to me and laced our hands together. "Do you still think they're making a mistake?" he asked me.

My eyes widened. "How did you know I was thinking that?" I spluttered.

"I know you", he replied simply. "I know you inside and out, Katniss Mellark. There's nothing you can hide from me."

After twenty years of marriage, Peeta has somehow still kept our romance going. I thought it wouldn't last once we were married and that he would eventually get tired of me but that didn't happen.

He loved and needed me almost as much as I needed him. We both fit together like two pieces of puzzles, we were two halves to one whole and as sappy as it may sound, we were soul mates. Having gone through so much side by side, we were stronger while united. Nothing could change that.

Two months had passed by when we found out we were expecting a baby and I froze as I was so scared.

I never wanted children when I was younger and when Peeta proposed, I told him that he shouldn't expect any if he were to marry me.

I could see that he was hurt by my decision but he didn't pester me on the topic. He'd kissed my forehead and said that as long as he had me, he wouldn't ask for babies.

But once we knew that a new life was growing within my body, Peeta was ecstatic. He begged me to continue with the pregnancy, promising that he wouldn't let any harm come to our un-born child. The Games were over, he reasoned, and they would never re-surface again so my worries were nothing but worries.

I could see that he wanted to be a father. He so desperately wanted to be someone's daddy and my heart warmed by thinking of that. How could I not love the one Peeta and I created out of our love for each other?

I pushed my fears away and looked forward to the next chapter of our life. Our life with our family. The man I loved vowed to never let go of me and as soon as my terror washed by, I slowly learnt that everything would turn out fine. Soon enough, this urge to protect and love the little one in my belly, rose in me.

The first time I felt Ariana Rose Mellark's hard kick, I knew that I would love my daughter and cherish her.

My sister often joked that my husband and I could read each other's thoughts. We were so in-sync with one another's mind that I shouldn't have been surprised when he instantly pin-pointed the reason behind my anxiety that evening.

I looked at his blue eyes. "I'm worried."

"You don't need to be."

"How can you say that?" I demanded.

He sighed. "Because I know our daughter and I know she's ready for this. You know that too but you're being stubborn."

"I'm not!" I protested.

"You are", he said. "You're acting just like your mother did when we announced that we were getting married. Do you remember what she said?"

"She said we were too young", I said grudgingly.

"Exactly. But was she right?"

She wasn't. "No."

"Are we still together despite the fact we got married two decades ago?" he went on.

"Yes", I answered, getting what he was hinting towards.

"So if we're perfectly happy, why should we stand in the way of another young-in-love duo's happiness?"

Damn you, Peeta. You and your voice of reason. "We shouldn't", I agreed softly.

He smiled at me and wrapped his free arm around my shoulder, effectively pulling me to his chest. "Ariana loves him", he said. "Daren is just what our shy girl needs."

While our son was confident and loud, our eldest was the exact opposite. She spoke gently, dedicated herself to learning how to be a healer (courtesy of Prim) and never fought for anything. She needed to be a bit more outspoken and-

"Daren is perfect for her."

"He is. I find it slightly weird that we're going to be family with the Hawthornes, putting our history with Gale in mind, but even though it's weird, it's right too."

"Madge said that Gale and I are acting like children in regard to this", I said all of a sudden. Gale wasn't that pleased with the union but he kept his mouth shut in fright of his wife.

That got a laugh out of him. "She's right. And if I remember correctly the first time she saw Ariana, she said that she wanted her as their daughter-in-law."

Madge Undersee and Gale had a casual relationship after the war, which resulted in the birth of Daren. He wasn't planned but they decided that this would be a good thing for them. Their son gave them both reason to live. Magde lost her father while Gale's younger brother was killed by one of the Capitol people.

They didn't get married immediately and didn't care that they were frowned upon for being an unwed couple with a child. They had their toasting a couple of years after and that suited them well.

"You're married to me now", said Peeta. "And Gale has Madge. Any teenage feelings that either of you had for each other have finished. It was just a crush, Katniss."

It may have been a crush for me but it wasn't like that for Gale. He loved me and wanted me to choose him over Peeta. He had his heart broken by me when I announced that I was going to marry my fellow victor.

'Any teenage feeling that either of you had for each other have finished.'

Peeta's right. We've moved forward from that and that's what I tell him.

"I'm going to talk to Ari", I said, using the nickname Peeta came up for Ariana. I stood up abruptly and walked back to our house.

"You do that!" he called, smiling. "It's the right thing to do."

~HG~

**A/N:** My 2nd HG fic. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading.

You know what to do. Please review! :)


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